IO Research’s vision for Cardano submitted to community for feedback by the Intersect Product Committee

To download the Cardano Vision proposal presentation, please visit the Research Working Group (RWG) page on the Intersect knowledge base. As part of an ongoing consultative process, and following review by the Intersect Product Committee, IO Research (IOR) is now inviting feedback and discussion via the RWG Discord channel.

To continue positioning itself as a leading blockchain, Cardano requires a robust five year research agenda focused on sustainability, scalability, and interoperability. To achieve this, advances in certain focus areas are required including consensus algorithms, such as Ouroboros Omega, zero-knowledge proofs, and enhanced smart contract functionality.

The goal is to reinforce Cardano’s positioning and leadership in addressing global and societal challenges, while driving innovation and maintaining high standards of security and efficiency.

Research network & track record

IOR’s worldwide academic network consists of two R&D teams. A research network with over 30 in-house and distributed research fellows, and an innovation department of more than 35 architects and engineers focused on rapid prototyping and validation. You can read more about our research network in this recent post.

IOR’s library contains over 200 peer reviewed and published papers, involving over 150 academics from around the world, which collectively have been cited over 10,000 times. Of these, around 50 papers are central to Cardano’s five development themes (aka eras), providing the foundational research that has enabled Cardano to exist in its current form.

Voltaire & governance

Voltaire, introduced through CIP-1694, marks the completion of Cardano’s original roadmap, establishing the technological foundation for the network to become a self-sustaining system.

By introducing a voting and treasury system, participants can use their stake and voting rights to influence the network’s future and propose improvements to Cardano, building on its existing staking and delegation framework.

Published papers underpinning this are:

• A Treasury System for Cryptocurrencies: Enabling Better Collaborative Intelligence
• SoK: Blockchain Governance and Reward Schemes
• Committee Sizes in Proof of Stake Governance.

IOR methodology

The IOR approach advocates an evidence-based engineering methodology, ensuring transparency and validation of designs through comprehensive artifacts and formal methods for high security assurance.

The IOR methodology consists of 3 distinct phases as a workstream or project moves from an initial problem statement towards market deployment through a Software Readiness Level (SRL) scale of 1-9:

• Fundamental research (pre-seed / up to SRL 2): IOR develops and formalizes ideas that go beyond the state of the art. Finding the right requirements, identifying inherent tradeoffs/limitations, a meaningful mathematical model, well-defined design goals, and a technical proposal/solution along with a rigorous security proof.
• Rapid innovation (seed / up to SRL 4-6): an interdisciplinary team who deploy lightweight validation of concepts. Rigorous R&D to develop promising ideas, establish feasibility via prototypes, models, and simulations, and write specifications that can be used directly and validate full implementations.
• Targeted implementation (seed + / SRL 4-6 onwards): IOR supports engineering teams implementing solutions in a target production environment, according to the specifications developed during the innovation phase, ensuring a high-assurance, evidenced-based engineering approach.

2030 outlook

IOR envisions Cardano, along with the broader blockchain ecosystem, evolving into a decentralized compute and storage platform.A ‘world’s operating system’ where blockchain networks interoperate effortlessly, much like the seamless connectivity we experience in Web2.

This vision supports the emergence of digital nation-states, where blockchains play a transformative role in defining identity, governance, and power structures. The strategic research agenda lays out specific R&D pathways, detailing their purpose, the technical challenges involved, and the resulting enhancements they will bring to Cardano, positioning it to lead these advancements.

Cardano Vision

A Strategic Research Agenda outlines Cardano's five-year outlook. This agenda is structured into two 2.5-year Vision and Impact phases with a mid-term review, and organized into consecutive annual and biannual Work Programs as indicated above.

Each annual Work Program, such as for 2025, includes specific workstreams with tasks, milestones, and deliverables, all aimed at delivering excellence, quality, and implementation. The agenda builds on Cardano's track record of 100% uptime, ensuring continuous improvement and maintaining its position at the forefront of blockchain technology.

By utilizing a portfolio strategy, IOR can continuously evaluate the progress, risks, and emerging opportunities within each research direction.

Nine thematic focus areas

The Cardano vision proposal consists of 9 thematic focus areas. Within each focus area, we detail the motivation, technical challenges, and benefits for Cardano, demonstrating how each direction aligns with specific blockchain principles or tenets.

These areas provide a roadmap for research and development, ensuring that efforts are not only innovative but also relevant to the Cardano mission. Each area tackles critical issues, drives technological advancements, and ultimately enhances the platform's capabilities, sustainability, and global impact.

1. The world’s operating system

To become a key layer of modern IT infrastructure, blockchain must enable secure value transfer and support complex operations like those in decentralized finance (DeFi). Cardano aims to strengthen smart contract capabilities and infrastructure, creating a comprehensive and accessible system. This positions Cardano as a leader in DeFi and other specialized domains.

2. Ouroboros Omega

Cardano’s proof-of-stake protocol is energy-efficient and supports broad participation. As the ecosystem grows, scaling transaction throughput and processing becomes critical. Enhancing Ouroboros to its final form will support wider adoption across the global blockchain ecosystem.

3. Tokenomicon

Tokenization enables the creation and global transfer of assets. Cardano’s native tokens and innovations like Babel fees highlight its leadership. However, ongoing refinement of tokenomics is vital for stability, innovation, and fair service pricing, strengthening decentralization and driving growth.

4. Global Identity

Self-sovereign identity (SSI) gives users control over personal data, enabling selective privacy and regulatory compliance. Embedding SSI into Cardano’s transactions, smart contracts, and governance will establish a robust decentralized identity framework, enhancing interoperability and supporting community growth.

5. Democracy 4.0

Technologies like the internet, social media, and AI challenge traditional democracy while opening new possibilities for governance. Cardano seeks to enhance democratic governance with secure voting systems, constitutional representation and incentives, advancing accessibility and leadership in decentralized governance.

6. The Internet Hydra-ted

Hydra, a layer 2 solution, accelerates transaction processing and reduces fees, making Cardano competitive for high-throughput applications like gaming and supply chains. Further development of Hydra will bolster Cardano’s scalability and enterprise appeal.

7. Interchains

Interoperability between blockchains and legacy systems is essential. Cardano’s strong security foundation positions it as a leader in cross-chain transactions. By supporting scalable and private cross-chain DApps, Cardano can offer a secure, efficient multi-chain environment.

8. Core zero-knowledge capabilities

Zero-knowledge tools enhance privacy and security across Cardano. Standardizing modular, updatable infrastructure ensures long-term functionality, competitiveness, and adaptability, establishing Cardano as a leader in privacy-preserving solutions.

9. The post-quantum landscape

Quantum computing poses certain risks to traditional cryptography, such as verifiable random functions (VRFs) and threshold signatures. Preparing Cardano with quantum-resistant algorithms and scalable cryptographic solutions will secure its infrastructure, ensuring resilience and adaptability in the post-quantum era.

Evaluation & reporting

Reporting for Work Program 25 will follow a structured process, providing transparency and accountability across all workstreams. A mid-year interim report will serve as a crucial checkpoint, providing a high-level update on workstream status, including tasks and deliverables.

At the end of each work program, a comprehensive final report containing a detailed summary of all deliverables achieved throughout the year will be prepared. This report will also include a thorough breakdown of associated final costs, offering a clear view of the financial and operational outcomes of the program.

What’s next

As the Cardano Vision and Work Program 25 proposals are circulated more broadly to the Cardano community and progress towards formal submission for funding, IOR is looking to take an active role in assisting members of the community clarify and fully understand the proposal and the exciting research opportunity ahead.

Communication & dissemination

During 2025, IOR also wishes to explore how to make its research more accessible, particularly for certain groups (such as SMEs) within the Cardano community, to effectively share research insights, updates, and achievements.

If you are a researcher, representative of a research organization, stake pool operator, DApp developer, delegate representative (DRep), or any other Cardano stakeholder who would like to be more involved in Cardano’s research program as it evolves through 2025, please contact Fergie Miller, Director of Research Partnerships at IOR and Intersect Research Working Group Lead, for an initial exploratory call by submitting this form.